Le Partitif

Le Partitif

French Partitif

Articles

• Articles are words that go before nouns in French

• Every noun needs an article or number in front of it.

• I can't say "J'aime football américain." I have to say "J'aime le football américain."

• Le is the article in that sentence.

Definite Articles - Le/La/Les

• These three articles mean the.

• Le is used before masculine things (le football américain)

• La is used before feminine things (la table)

• Les is used before multiple things (les frites)

• We use definite articles to talk about likes and dislikes (je n'aime pas les frites, j'adore le pain) even when we wouldn't say "the" in English

Singular Indefinite Articles - Un/Une

• These articles mean a or one

• Un is used before masculine things (un garçon)

• Une is used before a feminine thing (une fille)

• With food, use un or une when you eat an ENTIRE thing - un sandwich, une crêpe, une pomme

Plural Indefinite Article - Des

• This article means "some" with things we can COUNT (but normally wouldn't actually count).

• Use this when you eat multiple whole items: des frites, des sandwichs, des croissants, des biscuits

Du/De la/De l'

• These are partitive articles in French.

• They mean "some". (again, sometimes in English we don't say some, like I want chicken/I want some chicken, but in French we need it)

• We use these to talk about eating/drinking part of a whole thing, or an unspecified amount

• Use with the verbs prendre, boire, manger, vouloir

• Je prends du poulet, Je bois du thé, Je mange de la salade, Je veux de la limonade

Du

• Du means some when it is used with a masculine item

• Du beurre - some butter

• Du porc - some pork

• Du jus d'orange - some orange juice

• (I know all of these things are masculine because if I look at my note sheet, they either start with le or un.)

De la

• De la is used to mean some with feminine things

• De la salade - some salad (couldn't eat the whole thing???)

• De la confiture - some jam

• De la tarte - some pie

• (I know all of these things are feminine because they all start with either la or une)

De l'

• De l' is used to mean some with words that start with vowels, masculine or feminine.

• The only word you will probably use this for is l'eau

• De l'eau - some water

• I know to use this with l'eau because it starts with a vowel

When to use partitive articles (du/de la/de l'/)

• You will only use these for foods that you want "some" of.

• Je veux du gâteau - I want some cake (yes-this makes sense)

• Je veux un gâteau - I want a cake. (the WHOLE thing)

• Usually a cake is something you want some of. Generally speaking, people don't want an entire cake. (But no judgment!)

L'article « de »

• « de » is used after the word pas to express "not/any" (even if in English we sometimes drop the "any")

• Je ne mange pas de viande = I don't eat any meat

• Je ne bois pas de café = I don't drink any coffee

• Be careful with je n'aime pas - you still use le/la/les because of the verb "like", even though it's negative

How do I know what articles to use?

• When you look at your food vocabulary in this unit, pay attention to the article before it.

• Une pomme is feminine because une tells me it is feminine

• Le poulet is masculine because the le tells me it is masculine

• Unfortunately, there isn't an easy way to tell if things are masculine or feminine in French. You just have to memorize them.

• You only need to memorize 9 total items for your speaking assessment!

Multiple Choice

What does Le/la/les mean in English?

• the

• a

• some

Multiple Choice

What do du/de la/de l' and des mean in English?

• the

• a

• some

Multiple Select

To express likes & dislikes use...(Check all that apply)

• le

• des

• du

• la

• les

Multiple Select

To express "Some" you can use...(Check all that apply)

• le

• des

• du

• la

• de la

Multiple Choice

What does Un/Une mean in English?

• the

• some

• a

Multiple Choice

Which one of these means: I want a croissant

• Je veux un croissant

• Je veux du croissant

Multiple Choice

Which one of these means: I drink some tea

• Je bois le thé

• Je bois du thé

Multiple Choice

Which one means "I want some turkey"?

• Je veux une dinde

• Je veux la dinde

• Je veux de la dinde

Multiple Choice

Which one means "I have some cookies"?

• Je prends les biscuits

• Je prends des biscuits

• Je prends cinq biscuits

Multiple Choice

Nous n'aimons pas ______ steak.

• le

• de

• des

• les

• du

Multiple Choice

Ils adorent ______ croissants.

• le

• la

• des

• les

• du

Multiple Choice

Tu bois ______ eau?

• l'

• la

• de l'

• de la

• d'

Multiple Choice

Madame n'aime pas _______ café. (c'est faux en réalité)

• le

• la

• du

• de la

• de

Multiple Choice

Marie boit ________ thé après le dîner.

• le

• la

• du

• de la

• de

Multiple Choice

Je ne bois pas ________ jus de pomme

• le

• la

• du

• de la

• de

Multiple Choice

Nous achetons _______ pain au supermarché.

• le

• la

• du

• de la

• des

Multiple Choice

Je ne vais pas prendre _______ fromage.

• le

• la

• du

• de la

• de

Multiple Choice

Jean-Claude aime _______ pain.

• le

• la

• du

• de la

• des

Multiple Choice

Je déteste _______ salade.

• le

• la

• du

• de la

Multiple Choice

I love pizza: J'adore _______ pizza.

• le

• la

• du

• de la

Multiple Choice

Are you going to eat some salad?: Tu vas prendre _______ salade?

• le

• la

• du

• de la

Multiple Choice

I am going to have some pizza: Je vais prendre _______ pizza.

• le

• la

• du

• de la

Qu'est-ce que tu prends pour...

le petit-déjeuner ?

le déjeuner ?

le dîner ?

Prononcez !

À considérer pour l'épreuve

• If you are eating the whole item, use un/une (un sandwich)

• If you are eating some of a whole thing, or a general amount, use du, de la or de l' (du poulet / de la limonade / de l'eau)

• If you are eating multiple whole things, use des (des frites, des croissants)

Reminder:

How do I know what articles to use?

• When you work on your food vocabulary this unit, pay attention to the article before it.

• Une pomme is feminine because une tells me it is feminine

• Le poulet is masculine because the le tells me it is masculine

• Again, you'll just need to memorize them, but you only need to know 6 food items and 3 drinks for your speaking assessment.

Open Ended

Write in two things you eat for breakfast, and one thing you drink.

Pour le petit-déjeuner, je prends .... je bois ....

Open Ended

Write in two things you eat for lunch, and one thing you drink.

Pour le déjeuner, je prends .... je bois ....

Open Ended

Write in two things you eat for dinner, and one thing you drink.

Pour le dîner, je prends .... je bois ....

Quel repas préfères-tu ?

Je préfère le...

To get a 4, let's practice these!

(Both forms of préfère/s are pronounced pray-fair)

Poll

How are you feeling about the speaking quiz?

• I am confident that I will get a 4.

• I feel good about getting a 4, but need to practice a bit.

• I am confident I can get a 3.

• I feel good about getting a 3, but need to practice a bit.

• I'm not sure I can get a 3, please help me Madame!